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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Sun Dec 06, 2015 3:34 pm 
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sue them.


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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Sun Dec 06, 2015 6:05 pm 
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Greetings,

As some of you may know I work part time for a main dealer and we have noted that an increasing number of cars are suffering from 'acid attack' from the £5.00 car wash brigade. The problem seems to be related to the mixture strength of the pre-wash traffic film remover that gets sprayed on to the cars before the actual soapy wash.

In the 80's when people used domestic washing up liquid in their screen wash we found that the scuttle under the front window and around the chrome trims were prone to corrosion. On these occasions it was the salt content in the soap that was the culprit. The 'additive' also used to congeal in the bottom of the screen wash bottle and block the pump filter screen. This problem seems to be returning I have heard.

In particular if you have a car (probably motorcycle too) within the manufacturer's guarantee period then my advice is to steer well clear of such places, use only proprietary screen wash too ;)

TTFN

Hugh.

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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 5:05 pm 
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mike Irving wrote:
I've been taking my bikes and cars to the same Polish car washing outlet for years.

this morning after a 4 hour play in the mud i took it in as usual, same guy, same routine as dozens of times before only this time the paint has come off my exhaust and forks, the varnish has come of the aluminium and the bike looks a right mess. :o

Spoke with them and they just shrug their shoulders. ......look it does not damage the cars.

I suggested they check the mix but they were adamant that mix was correct. i asked for their insurance details............THEY ARN'T INSURED. they couldn't afford it. The bike is my 18 month old 690....ruined.

This is not a hole in the wall operation in a lay-by or something, they operate out of the back of a BP Garage in Bluntisham, Cambs.. I was all four of my cars there as well as all the bikes. SH!t

So to all you TRFer's........Think twice about using them.




Mike

You may find this useful

http://www.resolver.co.uk/companies/bp-complaints

and

http://www.bpcomplaints.com/

Meanwhile may be worth contacting your RAC/AA/Insurers and see if they can offer any loss recovery assistance.

I feel confident that BP will not take well to having uninsured businesses on their branded sites

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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 12:52 am 
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Sorry to hear about your bike Mike :(

Aren't car cleaning products supposed to be too harsh and potentially corrosive for the polished/unpainted surfaces on bikes? I always use a dedicated bike cleaner like SDoc100 gel on my SMC just in case, it's not cheap but it's bloody good and even contains corrosion inhibitors..apparently. I've got a mate who runs a car dealership and he uses that industrial strength traffic film remover, leave it on for too long/don't wash it off fully and it'll start corroding bare metal and ruining paint especially if it's not diluted enough!

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 Post subject: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:25 am 
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Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
mike Irving wrote:
I've been taking my bikes and cars to the same Polish car washing outlet for years.

this morning after a 4 hour play in the mud i took it in as usual, same guy, same routine as dozens of times before only this time the paint has come off my exhaust and forks, the varnish has come of the aluminium and the bike looks a right mess. :o

Spoke with them and they just shrug their shoulders. ......look it does not damage the cars.

I suggested they check the mix but they were adamant that mix was correct. i asked for their insurance details............THEY ARN'T INSURED. they couldn't afford it. The bike is my 18 month old 690....ruined.

This is not a hole in the wall operation in a lay-by or something, they operate out of the back of a BP Garage in Bluntisham, Cambs.. I was all four of my cars there as well as all the bikes. SH!t

So to all you TRFer's........Think twice about using them.


Why don't you do your own washing?

Part of maintenance - checking for mechanical issues as you go

Personally nobody washes my vehicles except me as I don't trust them

Sorry it's happened - but I've always bern sceptical of these outfits

I've seen friends with dulled trim on their cars - the TFR (awful corrosive stuff as you've found out) is horrible to vehicles

Do it yourself, Mike

It takes me 30 mins with a power washer & bucket/brushes/sponge & then I know it's done properly

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Last edited by johnnyboxer on Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:32 am 
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Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
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Location: Yorkshire
KentWR wrote:
sue them.


If they couldn't afford insurance - they'll have no money

Who do you sue, they will disappear into the shadows & open up elsewhere

It's a cash business - they will salt it away with no trace

They pay no tax & most will be on benefits - it's a black economy

The ones in town take £5k a week CASH on waste ground - renting a generator, ibc water tanks and some washers/buckets

We're too lazy & stupid to wash our own cars - how the Polish laugh at us (I've chatted to them) - easy money from the Brits

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1996 Suzuki DR350SE


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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:06 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:28 pm
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johnnyboxer wrote:
mike Irving wrote:
I've been taking my bikes and cars to the same Polish car washing outlet for years.

this morning after a 4 hour play in the mud i took it in as usual, same guy, same routine as dozens of times before only this time the paint has come off my exhaust and forks, the varnish has come of the aluminium and the bike looks a right mess. :o

Spoke with them and they just shrug their shoulders. ......look it does not damage the cars.

I suggested they check the mix but they were adamant that mix was correct. i asked for their insurance details............THEY ARN'T INSURED. they couldn't afford it. The bike is my 18 month old 690....ruined.

This is not a hole in the wall operation in a lay-by or something, they operate out of the back of a BP Garage in Bluntisham, Cambs.. I was all four of my cars there as well as all the bikes. SH!t

So to all you TRFer's........Think twice about using them.


Why don't you do your own washing?

Part of maintenance - checking for mechanical issues as you go

Personally nobody washes my vehicles except me as I don't trust them

Sorry it's happened - but I've always bern sceptical of these outfits

I've seen friends with dulled trim on their cars - the TFR (awful corrosive stuff as you've found out) is horrible to vehicles

Do it yourself, Mike

It takes me 30 mins with a power washer & bucket/brushes/sponge & then I know it's done properly



;)

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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:11 pm 
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Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:08 pm
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With my road transport journalist head on...

Don't use standard commercial vehicle TFR on motorbikes...it's caustic soda in solution...it will rot anything ally. It's designed to be heavily diluted, sprayed on and almost instantly removed by a drive-through brush-wash or similar. If someone gets the dilution wrong and applies it you are knackered.

It will 'chalk' black plastics and paint, and eat graphics.

If you must use TFR, then buy the more expensive 'non caustic' or 'green' kind. Make sure you mix/dilute it properly and rinse off...or save yourself a world of worry and use a wax-based car shampoo or a bike-specific cleaning product like Muc-Off.

And Hugh's comment on domestic washing-up liquids are spot on...it removes surface tension and is loaded with salt..use it on a steel structure like a motorcycle frame or a car body and you are washing salt into the tightest corners while at the same time removing any oil or wax. Washing powder is even worse...there are phosphates in that as whitening agents Just don't do it!


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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:46 pm 
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normally i rock up after a ride and they hose the mud off the bike, quick squirt of TFR, hose down again, attack it with soapy gloves, hose the bike and me down, shammy the bike and job done with a fiver. this time they were busy and over a 20/30 min period they squirted the bike three times. I didn't think about it at the time as i was on the phone TRF again probably :roll: then they came to hose it down and i watched the paint fall off and go down the drain.

i dont wash the bike down at home as i am too lazy to get all the gear out and then clean the drive afterwards. In the old day when i kept my toy cupboard at work ( 100 yrds down the road) it was all set up and no problem or i got one of the boys to do them. for the moment i have resorted to leaving them in the garage dirty.

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 Post subject: Re: Where do you wash your bike ?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:54 pm 
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